A sign on Burdick Street shows the West Burdick Plaza is still open. Photo by Lara Mossa / The Oakland Press

OXFORD >> Business at Paul’s Barber Shop dipped by roughly 80 percent on Saturday ­— the busiest day of the week — because customers thought the road to the West Burdick Plaza was closed.

Construction started Wednesday, June 11, on Burdick Street, west of M-24 and stretching onto Seymour Lake Road in Oxford Township. While a road closure sign alerts drivers to the road block before you get to West Burdick Plaza, the road is actually clear with easy access into the parking lot before you get to the construction site.

“There are five businesses in here suffering,” said Andrea Ballor, a barber at Paul’s Barber Shop. As a self-employed barber, the slow traffic hurts her paycheck, she said.

Business is “not good,” party store owner Chuck Walleman said. “Infrastructure is necessary. We want to see the road fixed. But when the sign was put up, people didn’t know the stores were open.”

Oxford Village Manager Joe Young responded to concerns by hanging two signs - one on Burdick Street at the detour sign and one on the corner of M-24 and Lapeer Road saying the businesses are open.

“If need be, we can put up more signs,” he said. “I know it’s a struggle for them.”

Young has noticed that a Little Caesars employee stands at the corner of M-24 and Burdick Street to draw traffic to the store, he said.

The village and township have offered the construction crew incentives to finish the project early, but Young does not think the company will meet that goal. If the job is finished late — 35 days past the start date — the company will be charged a $900 a day penalty. The road should be reopened July 19, followed by some restoration work.

“We just hope people will support them and help them through this challenging time,” Young said of the businesses.

Even if customers know the plaza is open, the shopping center is losing traffic that would normally head east on Burdick Street. The detour route is from Burdick Street to Dunlap Road to M-24. In addition, the first detour signs posted had to be changed because they were wrong, Young said.

Meanwhile, some residents are upset that more traffic is cutting through the Waterstone subdivision, north of Seymour Lake Road, but signs are posted prohibiting trucks from driving into the neighborhood.

Once the project is complete, the village is considering putting weight restrictions on the road to curtail damage from heavy trucks, Young said.

“This is a main vessel,” added Ballor. “This company has big incentives to get this project done on time. We are happy the road is being done. We’re happy about the project in the long run, but they didn’t take measures to keep us happy and let people know the businesses are open.”